On the screen of the Tirana court: screenwriter Nexhmije Hoxha and the one who indulged the whims of the former red leader, Kino Buxheli. The Tirana District Court has been given the task of shedding light on a small fragment of the 47-year film reel of the “filth of the former Bllok.” And this reel, as far as Mrs. Nexhmije is concerned, runs from 1936 to 1990. Thus, it will not expose the corruption of all 47 years of communist life in the former Bllok. This screenplay is long and has many episodes. It has many screenwriters, directors, actors, prompters and extras. The defendant Nexhmije Hoxha, as the principal screenwriter of all the Bllok’s misdeeds, accepted and took responsibility for nothing. Kino Buxheli also made excuses, saying that she had done everything on orders and instructions from above. Then, on Monday, 11.1.1993, the extras, or witnesses, were called into the courtroom. They included: directors of the treatment department, finance officers, suppliers, cooks and many others. In their testimonies, they shed light on the corruption committed by the former leaders during 1986–1990. It emerged that the red clique spared nothing for their pleasures and whims, and cared nothing for financial laws and regulations. It emerged that, during this period, dozens and hundreds of lunches, dinners and cocktails were laid on in the families of Çarçani and the lodge. And at these feasts—which, according to testimony, were paid for—at the banquets held in recent years, the enigmatic mafioso and swindler Haxhian Sejdija was always present. Raki, wine, champagne, whisky and beer flowed freely at these feasts. They were like something out of the tales of One Thousand and One Nights. When the witnesses who had been assigned to prepare these lunches and dinners were asked why they did not obey the laws, but instead followed the clique’s orders and instructions, one replied: “If I had done such a thing, I’d have been done for.” The consequences were unknown and incalculable. When another was asked whether staff could help themselves to the select foods prepared for the former leaders, he replied: — They were forbidden apples for us. If we took a bite, our whole family would be poisoned. To monitor the Reception Directorate, they would not allow any inspection by the Ministry of Finance. The directorate’s activities were extremely secret. “Once, when I asked to inspect the Reception Directorate,” one witness told me, “Haki Toska arrogantly threw me out.” And when I submitted a request to Prime Minister Çarçani, he replied: “Only the Reception Directorate will not be inspected, because everything there is highly secret.” Who was it being kept secret from? The people, of course, since everything fell on their skeletal backs. From the testimonies of the many witnesses who had worked in the Bllok, it emerged how much the Bllok members spent. When the defendant Nexhmije was asked what this unprecedented luxury was, she said that there is no equality anywhere, or in any situation. Some people rummage through pastry shops, while others rummage through rubbish bins. This happens not only in the former socialist countries, but also in America. So why are you asking me about egalitarianism? said Nexhmije of Enver, who ruined the people bit by bit, though she supposedly lost sleep over their troubles. Oh God, what a pack of people. And what am I saying? They had neither shame nor compassion. They were sadists and vampires. It emerged that the former cooperative worker Lenka Çuko, the driver Pali Miska and the cart driver Muho Asllani had requested and bought ping-pong tables abroad with foreign currency. Don’t be surprised. This is only a small part of the screenplay that played out in the Bllok for 47 years, in that district in the middle of Tirana, guarded by the state’s watchful dragons. That is how the film in the Bllok began: first with orgies, corruption and comedy, and then came the tragedies. The panel of judges is competently examining the small fragment of evidence it has been given to clarify. After this, the principal screenwriters, Ramiz Alia, and all the members of the 47-year-old great masquerade will take their seats in the dock. First and foremost, they will answer for the genocide they inflicted on the Albanian people and for the great tragedy of this nation. was carried out by former leaders and judges of the 1986–1990 period. It turned out that the red cubes, for their whims and fancies, spared nothing and showed no regard whatsoever for financial laws and regulations. It turned out that dozens and hundreds of lunches, dinners, and cocktail parties were held in the homes of Çarçani and Llozha during this period. Hundreds of guests attended these banquets, all paid for from the people’s budget. On one occasion, a witness said, 1,250 people attended a dinner hosted by former Prime Minister Adil Çarçani. The entire leadership, with all its hangers-on, ordinary criminals and sadists from the protection detail of the Bloc, as well as invited guests and friends of Marxist-Leninist parties, red mafiosi and thugs from all over the world, took part in this orgy. They were... Çarçani, he answered us: is top secret.” Secret from whom? Certainly from the people, since everything was done secretly at their expense. During the testimony of the many witnesses who had worked in the Bloc, it emerged that the expenses the Bloc members incurred to satisfy their whims were incalculable and unimaginable. They had villas outside the Bloc as well, in the districts. When they went abroad, supposedly for visits, they hosted lunches and dinners at great expense. Their children, who were in the Bloc, were also not left out when their parents held banquets abroad. The state paid for everything, while squeezing the long-suffering people. When they... ...from all over the world. They were...

On Monday afternoon, the Assembly opened the second working week of this year in a plenary session. After discussing and approving the work programme, it moved on to its first item: discussion and approval of the draft law “On the collective employment contract.” Until now, the legal regulation of employment relations has been governed by Law No. 7526 of 3.12.1991, “On Employment Relations,” specifically Articles 15–23, which regulate the collective employment contract. These provisions did not provide a full legal framework for the collective employment contract and the relations arising from it, so approval of the submitted draft law was necessary—especially since the existing law has not been implemented to date. Below, we give a concise presentation of the newly approved law. Article 2 defines the collective contract as an agreement between employers and employees that regulates the legal employment relations between them, as well as the rights and duties of each party. Article 4 provides that the collective contract must regulate matters relating to the duration of the employment relationship, the mutual rights and duties of the parties, social insurance, disciplinary conditions for failure to fulfil it, etc. The law stipulates that the specific terms of collective contracts are to be set out in a decision of the Council of Ministers, after consultation with the trade unions. Article 5 of the law provides that collective contracts may be concluded at only two levels. Accordingly, a collective employment contract will be concluded at enterprise level and branch level, and not at national level as the trade unions provide for; according to them, a collective contract should also be concluded between the unions and the government. The law also addresses the question of which union will participate in the collective employment contract. Article 5 of the existing law provides that the collective employment contract is to be concluded between trade unions and employers, but does not fully resolve the issue that arises when employees are not members of the same trade union. Articles 6 and 7 of the draft were presented in two versions. Both versions retained the idea that the collective contract would be concluded at two levels: at enterprise level and branch level, between the two parties, employers and employees. The version that was approved, the first one, resolves this by adhering to the principle that each trade union should have its own representatives for concluding the collective contract. The number of representatives for each union will be proportional to the number of its members, while preserving the right of the union with the largest membership to be represented by a larger number of people. For the conclusion of a collective contract at branch level, the employers’ representatives are the governing bodies of the corporations that exist at branch level. For branches included in the budget system, the collective contract is to be concluded between employee representatives and the relevant ministries, as representatives of the employers. During discussion and voting on Article 9 of the draft law, it was decided that, as a rule, this contract would be concluded for one year only. It is also provided that the parties have the right to extend the period specified in their agreement. The following addition was also made to this article: “The collective contract shall be concluded within the final three months of each financial year.” The procedure for concluding the collective contract is governed by Articles 10–16. These provisions stipulate that, before the parties conclude the collective agreement, they must hold preliminary discussions. Either party has the right to take the initiative and invite the other party to preliminary discussions, which differs from the existing law, under which only the trade union’s governing bodies draft the contract. Registration of the collective employment contract is to take place with two bodies: the employment office, for collective contracts at enterprise level, and the Department of Professional Relations at the Ministry of Labour, Emigration, Social Support and Political Persecutees, for collective contracts at branch level. The collective contract enters into force—and the mutual rights and obligations of the contracting parties arise—when it is registered with the relevant body. The term of the collective contract also begins to run from that moment. Article 22 also provides for the termination or suspension of the collective contract in relations between the parties. The following addition was made to this article: “The collective contract may not be terminated unilaterally.” It is also provided that the collective contract may end when its term expires, if the parties have not extended it by mutual agreement, or on the date of the dissolution or bankruptcy of one of the parties. The termination of the collective employment contract must also be documented with the body that registered it. Prepared by R. SULÇE

— NEXHMIJE HOXHA SPEAKS AT THE TRIAL IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE RED DICTATORSHIP — The hearing on 12,1,1993 dealt with the questioning of the prosecution witnesses; all those questioned were Bllok employees, except Sokol Hoxha, who was a member of the Bllok. At first, Dashamir Andoni said he handled the electrical work in the Bllok. Later it emerged that he also dealt with photographs of the leadership, and in the end he turned out to be an officer of the red mafia, with extraordinary powers. He said that on the night I saw the Bllok was in danger of burning down, I notified the commander of the guard corps so the documentation could be burned. He carried out my order and burned the minutes and the guards’ personal files. — Is it true, Mrs. Nexhmije? — she said, her face contorted with anger. — Yes, it is true, said Nexhmije, her face contorted with anger. This happened one day after the monument to Comrade Enver was toppled, on the day the mobs of hooligans surrounded our Bllok. Nexhmije testified that she had stayed up all night organizing the Hoxha family’s documents so they could be hidden, because they were at risk of falling into the hands of the mob. What were these secret documents, and where were they taken?! The prosecutor in the case, Teodor Mosko, intervened and silenced the defendant, whose language and arrogance recalled her former ways. During the questioning, it became as clear as daylight that the Reception Directorate for the treatment of Bllok members was taboo. This was stated by the directors of the directorates and the finance sub-departments, as well as officials from the ministries. The word of the Bllok families was answerable neither to God nor to the law. Among the questions put to the witness Sokol Hoxha, son of the dictator Enver Hoxha and the “Çian Cini of Tirana,” it emerged that they squandered the foreign currency that represented the people’s sweat. Sokol travelled abroad on business from his workplace, and for this service he also received money from the Reception Directorate. In addition, dollars were given to him for the whims of the harem’s ladies in the Bllok. With foreign currency they bought expensive cosmetics and clothes abroad for the madams of the Bllok. According to the testimony, they spent a great deal of foreign currency on medicines, since the whole family was apparently afflicted with numerous illnesses. A collection of possibilities. One medicine in particular was very expensive abroad, a rare medicine. And when Sokol was asked what the medicine was called, the defendant Nexhmije stood up and said its name should not be revealed. What kind of medicine was it?! Perhaps some narcotic to stimulate sexual desire. The trial continues with the questioning of witnesses. — Will the entire scenario of the red octopus be exposed? THE OBSERVER ...as plain as daylight, because the Reception Directorate for the care of Bloc members was taboo. All the directors of departments and finance subdepartments and ministries say this in their own words. The word of the Bloc families mattered neither for God nor for Hoxha, son of the dictator Enver Hoxha and of Ciançini of Tirana, it emerged that they treated the foreign currency—which was the sweat of the people—as a joke. Sokoli went abroad on business for his job; for this service he also received [unclear] from the Reception Directorate. In addition to these, women of the Bloc harem. for the ladies of the Bloc. According to the testimony, it emerged that they spent a lot of foreign currency on medicines for the whole family, which was plagued by numerous illnesses. A collection of all kinds of medicines. Indeed, one medicine was very expensive abroad, a rare drug. And when Sokoli was asked what the medicine was called, the shameless Nexhmije stood up and said that the medicine’s name should not be disclosed. What kind of medicine was this?! Perhaps some narcotic for sexual stimulation. The court continues questioning the witnesses.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that, The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Ali Akbar Velajati, arrived in our country on a working visit, at the head of a delegation. At Rinas Airport, he was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfred Serreqi, and other representatives of this ministry. — TALKS AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS — Talks were held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between the Albanian delegation, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alfred Serreqi, and the Iranian delegation, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ali Akbar Velajati. On behalf of the Albanian government, Minister Serreqi thanked the Iranian side for the assistance it had offered in support of the events of change, expressing goodwill and readiness for greater cooperation in the fields of science, technology, and culture. In this context, both sides highly valued the group of experts for economic cooperation. Regarding the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, the ministers expressed identical views on resolving it by political means. Mr. Ali Akbar Velajati was also received by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Rexhep Uka. (ATSH)

How many parents have you left without children? How many families orphaned and homeless? How many sisters without brothers, how many? How many husbands without sisters and without wives? How many hearths did you extinguish at daybreak? How many loves did you break apart? How many hearts did you blacken like pitch? How many lives did you snuff out in the womb? How many graves have you left without a headstone? How many men, and how many women? How many did you poison by day, and how many by night? How many brothers’ days did you darken? How many did you make disappear through show trials? How many minarets did you burn, and how many crosses? How many did you sacrifice for Comrade Tito? How many for Mao Zedong, the brother? How many for Stalin’s moustache? How many for the “alengje,” and how many for the “rrage”? How many boys and girls did you put on the gallows? How many did you drown in wells, and how many in fires? How many well-known comrades did you roast on the spit? How many female friends, and how many companions? How many workers, and how many peasants? How many artists, and how many writers? How many soldiers, and how many generals? How many compatriots uprooted? How many seas of blood have you drunk? How many tons of gold have you hidden from us? How many years did you ruin Albania? How many like Helenë, how many like Cian Cini? How many watchdogs did you raise? How many bought, and how many sold? Tell us about these things, you vilest of the vile, O horror of all horrors. COBO SKËNDERI